International Paint Co. (Calif.), Inc. v. United States

64 Cust. Ct. 166, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3189
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 11, 1970
DocketC.D. 3977
StatusPublished

This text of 64 Cust. Ct. 166 (International Paint Co. (Calif.), Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Paint Co. (Calif.), Inc. v. United States, 64 Cust. Ct. 166, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3189 (cusc 1970).

Opinion

Watson, Judge:

The merchandise involved in this protest, invoiced as “Antifouling Paste Paint”, was classified under item 403.90 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States at the rate of 3.5 cents per pound [167]*167plus 25 per centum ad valorem under the provision therein for mixtures in whole or in part of any of the products provided for in subpart B of part 1 of schedule 4 of said tariff schedules.

Plaintiffs claim that the merchandise should have been classified under item 474.30 of the tariff schedules at the rate of 8.5 per centum ad valorem as paints not containing titanium pigments.

The defendant, while adhering to its classification under item 403.90, alternatively claims the merchandise to be properly classifiable under item 409.00 as a mixture in whole or in part of any of the products provided for in subpart C, part 1, schedule 4 of the tariff schedules at the rate of 7 cents per pound, plus 45 per centum ad valorem, by virtue of the provision for pesticides in item 405.15 of the schedules. Plaintiffs, on their part, maintain that the involved paint paste is not dutiable under item 409.00, as alternatively claimed by the defendant, for the reason that such paint, in its imported condition, is not a pesticide and, unlike the other products listed under subpart C of part 1 of schedule 4, is not a finished product.

The statutes herein involved are as follows:
Tariff Schedules of the United States:
General Headnotes and Rules of Interpretation:
10. General Interpretative Buies. For the purposes of these schedules—
* ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
(c) an imported article which is described in two or more provisions of the schedules is classifiable in the provision which most specifically describes it; but, in applying this rule of interpretation, the following considerations shall govern:
❖ # Hi * * * *
(ii) comparisons are to be made only between provisions of coordinate or equal status, i.e., between the primary or main superior headings of the schedules or between coordinate inferior headings which are subordinate to the same superior heading;
‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
(h) unless the context requires otherwise, a tariff description for an article covers such article, whether assembled or not assembled, and whether finished or not finished;
Schedule 4:
Schedule 4 headnotes:
# ❖ # # % * *
3. (a) The term “mixtures”, as used in this schedule, means substances consisting of two or more ingredients (i.e., elements or compounds), whether occurring as such in nature, or whether artificially produced (i.e., brought about by mechanical, physical, [168]*168or chemical means), which, do not bear a fixed ratio to one another and which, however thoroughly commingled, retain their individual chemical properties and are not chemically united. The fact that the ingredients of a product are incapable of separation or have been commingled in definite proportions does not in itself affect the classification of such product as a mixture.
(b) The term “mixtures”, as used in this schedule, includes solutions, except solutions defined as compounds in headnote 2(b) of this schedule.
Part 1 headnotes:
1. Except as specifically set forth in the headnotes to other parts of this schedule, all products described in this part shall be classified hereunder even if more specifically described elsewhere in this schedule. Any product described in both subparts B and C of this part shall be classified in subpart C.
Subpart B headnote:
1. The provisions of item 403.02 and 403.60, inclusive, in this subpart shall apply not only to the products described therein when obtained, derived, or manufactured in whole or in part from products described in subpart A of this part, but shall also apply to products of like chemical composition having a benzenoid, quinoid, or modified benzenoid structure artificially produced by synthesis, whether or not obtained, derived, or manufactured in whole or in part from products described in said subpart A.
Subpart C headnotes:
‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
2. The term “pesticides” in item 405.15 means products, such as insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, fumigants, and seed disinfectants, chiefly used to destroy undesired animal or plant life.
Part 9 headnote:
1. Any product described in this part and also in part 1 of this schedule is classifiable under said part 1, except varnishes, inks, and artists’, students’, and children’s pigments or paints.
Subpart C headnotes:
$ ‡ ‡ $
2. The term “paints and enamel paints” in this subpart covers dispersions of pigments or pigment-like materials with a liquid (vehicle) which are suitable for application to surfaces as a thin layer, and which dry (harden) to an opaque, solid film. The vehicle of paints consists of drying oils or resins which bind the pigment particles together in the film; and the vehicle of enamel paints is principally varnish. Paints and enamel paints may also contain thinners, driers, plasticizers, or other agents.
[169]*169Classified under:
Schedule 4, Part 1, Subpart B, TSUS:
Cyclic organic chemical products in any physical form having a benzenoid, qui-noid, or modified benzenoid structure, not provided for in subpart A or C of this part:
403.02 Anthracene having a purity of 30% or more by weight- * * *
*******
403.90 Mixtures in whole or in part of any of the products provided for in this subpart— 3.50 per lb. + 25% ad val.
Defendant’s alternative claim:
Schedule 4, Part 1, Subpart C, TSUS:
405.15 Pesticides _ * * *
* * ^ ^: * * *
409.00 Mixtures in whole or in part of any of the products provided for in this subpart— 70 per lb. + 45% ad val.
Claimed under:
Schedule 4, Part 9, Subpart C, TSUS:
Paints and enamel paints:
474.30 Not containing titanium pigments— 8.5% ad val.

The record in this case consists of the testimony of two witnesses who testified on behalf of the plaintiffs, and, in addition, two exhibits offered and received in evidence on behalf of the plaintiffs, and one exhibit introduced in evidence by the defendant.

Exhibit 1 is a sample of antifouling paste offered as illustrative of the imported merchandise. Exhibit 2 is a letter offered to indicate the various chemical components of the imported merchandise.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
64 Cust. Ct. 166, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-paint-co-calif-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1970.